Chapter Four: Pain and Suffering

Isabella walked away from the Fellowship as quietly as she could. They were sitting and talking about what road they should take, and she wasn't much interested. She was getting started on her next plan to win the elf.

Okay, this damsel in distress thing has to work, she said to herself. Surely no gentleman can resist helping a maiden in need.

With this in mind she tramped along, looking for some way to get into trouble without really getting into trouble. There's no sense in doing anything stupid, she reasoned.

As she walked she began to think of other plans--just in case. The others hadn't worked yet, so she thought she ought to have backups. She was so lost in thought that she didn't see the root in front of her, and she tripped over it as a result.

"Ow!" she howled in pain, grabbing her ankle. "Not good! Not good!" She sat for a few minutes, waiting for the pain to subside, then tried to stand. Luckily she could put some weight on it, so she decided it wasn't too bad. She continued her walk, only with a slight limp now.

Let's see, in the stories he sometimes finds her singing, she thought. She began mulling over which song would be best, when all of a sudden a howl pierced the night.

Isabella stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart was racing, and she could hardly breathe. What is that? she wondered wildly. She looked around, but could see nothing. She took a deep breath. Perhaps I should go back to the group and forget this plan... So, that's what she set out to do.

She began to retrace her steps when there was another howl. She stopped again. She considered climbing a tree for safety, but she couldn't make herself move just yet. The howls were getting closer. She whipped her head around and saw a dark shadow pass among the trees. Isabella let out an ear-piercing shriek and began running without a second thought.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" she screamed as she ran. She could hear the howls behind her, and the fall of footsteps. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

She turned her head to look behind herself as she ran, when SMACK! She'd run into something. Whatever it was moved and Isabella closed her eyes, not wanting to see her attacker. She began swinging her fists wildly. She punched, slapped and kicked the thing. She screamed again when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She whirled around and found Gandalf standing there, his hand still on her shoulder. He was staring seriously at her.

"What are you doing?" he asked her. "Why did you wander away from the group?"

"I...I..." Isabella stammered. "I was off for a walk when suddenly I heard all these howls! I ran and ran, and they chased me, then I ran into something. I fought with all my might, but..." she looked behind herself. The only thing there was a tree. "I suppose I scared it off or wounded whatever it was. As I said before, I am a warrior." She stood as tall as she could and tried to look tough.

"What you heard were Wargs. We should seek shelter immediately. Quickly, to the top of the hill!" Gandalf ordered, then led the way to where they had stopped before so they could gather their things. Isabella limped along as quickly as she could, silently cursing the wargs for ruining her newest plan. She was also stumbling a bit from being exhausted. She wished she had a nice bed to curl up in...maybe with--

"Light a fire," Aragorn broke in.

Isabella walked towards the trees that stood nearby to help collect some wood, grumbling to herself as she did. She was trying to think of another way the girls in the fanfiction realm wooed Legolas, but she was extremely tired and couldn't focus.

"Mister Frodo, sir?" Sam whispered a short distance away.

"What is it, Sam?"

"Isabella says she is a warrior, right?"

"Yes."

"Then why was she beating that poor tree? It didn't do a thing to her!"

Frodo shook his head and glanced over at the girl. "I do not know, Sam."

"If you want my opinion, I think she's mad," Gimli put in. He'd been eavesdropping nearby. The two hobbits nodded solemnly.

"I hear that Legolas, Gandalf and Boromir think she's a spy for the Dark Lord," Merry added. He and Pippin were setting their wood on the pile.

"If that is the case, then perhaps we should all be on our guard," Frodo said to the others. They agreed.

Isabella yawned as she sat her wood on the pile, then walked a few feet away and lay on the ground. She wrapped her cloak about herself and allowed herself to fall asleep despite the danger.

She woke suddenly from her sleep as there was a loud chorus of howls. She hopped to her feet and rushed to where Legolas stood. "What's going on?" she asked worriedly.

Legolas didn't answer. He was standing completely still, staring out into the darkness. Isabella grabbed his arm again. "Legolas?" she whimpered.

"Remove your hand," he said lowly and sternly. She did as he asked after a moment's hesitation, and within a split second he had his bow set and aimed.

Gandalf ordered the hobbits to fling more fuel on the fire and ready their swords. He then spoke to Isabella: "You are unarmed. You should move to the center of the rest of us."

Isabella started to move when she saw the wargs jump into the stone circle that lay around the camp. She screamed and fell backwards.

"Get back!" Boromir yelled as he slid his sword into one of the beasts. Isabella didn't have to be told again. She crawled quickly behind the Fellowship and grabbed a few rocks and a large stick to use should she have to.

She grasped a rock and looked wildly around at the Fellowship and the wargs. She'd never seen such a thing! Suddenly a warg leapt at Legolas. Without thinking, Isabella hurled her rock in its direction. Fortunately, Legolas was able to kill the animal before it reached him. Unfortunately, Isabella didn't have good aim. Her rock that was meant for the warg actually hit Pippin in the back of the head. He groaned and fell to the ground unconscious.

Isabella shrieked and the hobbits cried, "Pippin!" Merry and Sam dragged their friend close to Isabella. Merry hurried back to be with Frodo while Sam stayed with their fallen friend.

"I didn't mean to!" Isabella cried. "It was an accident. I meant to hit the warg..."

Sam didn't say anything. He was examining Pippin's head wound. Gandalf yelled something that Isabella couldn't understand and the trees lit on fire, scaring the remaining wargs away.

The others went quickly over to where Sam, Pippin and Isabella were. Aragorn used some water to wash the wound, then tore a piece of cloth to tie around it. Thankfully it wasn't too serious. He woke as the water was poured on it and was well enough to walk soon after.

"I'm so sorry, Pippin!" Isabella apologized, wincing at the pain in her ankle, which she'd aggravated more when she fell as the attack began.

Pippin accepted the apology graciously and warned her not to try throwing rocks again anytime soon. She agreed to this.

"There is no trace of them anywhere," Aragorn was saying. Isabella looked around and noticed that there were no warg bodies lying around as he had said.

Gandalf said they should try to reach the doors of Moria before sunset, so everyone hurriedly gathered their things and began to follow the Maia.

"Do you think she is trying to kill us all one by one?" Merry whispered. "That her plan was to do worse than give Pip a nasty bump on the head?"

"I do not know," Frodo returned.

"She'll not mess with me or Mister Frodo or she'll regret it, and no mistake!" Sam said gravely.